1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to mobile digital video recorders.
2. Background of the Invention
Improved mobile technology is instrumental in blurring the line between mobile devices and computers. Mobile devices are getting more powerful, and computers are getting smaller. With wireless technology evolving at light speed, the fusion between the two is well under way. Equally important is how content delivery is blurring the line between computers and television/radio. With the digitization of almost all forms of media, television sets are getting more advanced, while computers are increasingly being seen as multimedia stations. The fusion between all of these technologies is apparent.
Mobile technology has significantly evolved over the last decade. Beyond voice conversations, mobile devices have increasingly been used to access more information. As overall mobile usage grows, consumers are getting more comfortable with the additional futures and web services that are being offered. Consumers are able to use their mobile phones to send text messages, use maps, take pictures, play games, send emails, download music, and even watch television programs. Naturally, this has led to an ongoing fusion of mobile networks and traditional landline broadband internet services. The traditional broadband internet has unleashed the tremendous potential for content delivery and internet users today can download music, videos, and even TV shows.
Mobile networks are not far behind this trend. Mobile operators have tuned into this demand for these needs, and have invested in upgrading their networks to be able to provide services such as email, enhanced short messaging, instant messaging, and especially internet access. The technology to provide multimedia over mobile networks, albeit scattered, still has potential to match other traditional content-delivery mechanisms. One of the enabling technologies to further the development of mobile networks is the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). IMS basically describes a system by which mobile operators can offer and charge for discrete services that are usually available on the internet, alongside current services being offered. This architecture works with any packet-switching network, is IP-based, and therefore has tremendous potential for services like VoIP, multimedia downloads, IM, file sharing, streaming video, and other forms of content delivery. The advent of IMS has spurred such content delivery services that rival cable and satellite television.
Mobile TV is a promising frontier in the mobile handheld industry. Subscribers hit 1.2 million in 2005, and revenues grew from $32.8 million in 2004 to $47.5 million in 2005, forecasted to reach $1.9 billion in 2008. User surveys indicate that the bulk of the average American's 20-plus TV viewing hours each week goes to watching shorter programs, such as news footage or music videos. Such clips are ideal for viewing on a mobile phone, for instance while commuting on public transit. Industry pundits believe that the mobile handset will evolve into the third TV screen in our lives, behind the home TV and the PC. Mobile operators are unveiling video phones like the Sanyo MM-7400, for subsidized prices, because they believe it will encourage use of their video delivery services. A major telecommunications operator has recently announced plans to build a nationwide wireless video-and-audio network, offering TV-quality video speeds of 30 frames per second and up to 100 channels of content.
Since the current infrastructure for television and cable-based video delivery has existed for generations, it is paradoxically stagnant while being well-developed at the same time. On one hand, the monopoly that cable providers have had is indicative of the limitations to traditional cable technology. Even satellite TV has the problem of limited bandwidth, and having to use proprietary decompression technologies based on the service provider and the licensing terms. On the other hand, there have been several advancements at the user end of this method of delivery, such as set-top boxes and digital video recorders like TIVO or ReplayTV. Viewers can program this device to record television shows that they can play back later at a more convenient time, and skip commercials. However, the limitation still exists that viewers must have access to these devices, which implies that they must be in one physical location to view these recorded programs.
What is needed is the ability to playback multimedia content that is not restricted to being viewed on devices such as televisions, external DVRs, DVD players, computers, etc. Technologically, transfer of multimedia between devices has always been possible, but only with a solid know-how of the very technical process, involving cracking proprietary formats to enable playback of media files across multiple platforms. Currently, development efforts exist to enable users to transfer video content from existing DVRs to personal computers, but this system is still restricted to content that is delivered via traditional methods such as cable or satellite TV.
With the fast-growing infrastructure of delivering multimedia content to mobile users, a need exists for an ideal system that would allow these users to record this content on their mobile devices to be played back at any convenient time.